Jill's World Ch. 06

The 6:00 alarm went off for the third time. I hit the snooze button — the four hours of sleep I had managed were clearly not sufficient to get out of bed. Five minutes later, I was about to slap the snooze again when I heard a knock at the door.

"Don't hit it again Carrie." My step-mother-kind-of, Kelly giggled from the hall.

I groaned and climbed out of bed. The contract was all over the bed. I gathered it up and put it in my book bag, so I wouldn't forget it. Minutes later, the water was nice and hot, and I let it wake me up. I just stood there for too long, but never long enough in my opinion. Starting with shampoo, I washed myself from the head down.

I suddenly wished I had some moisturizer to put on my skin, like I had done Jill's yesterday. No time for that today though. I went to find the most conservative outfit I could find. Which, honestly, was pretty slutty. The green skirt wasn't too much shorter than the one I wore yesterday, but it was above mid-thigh and would keep me tugging at it all day to be sure I wasn't flashing my butt.

I had a problem. It was Friday morning and I had four pairs of panties, and I had left one pair in Julie's locker last night. And I hadn't done any laundry. Well, I was not going to school without underwear, if I had an option not to. So, I took the three pair I still had and gave each a sniff to see which smelled cleanest. I know, it's gross, but the blue boy shorts were in pretty good shape and I sprayed them with a bit of perfume ... probably a bit more than I should have.

Bra, yes, I wore the red one and it showed right through the pink shirt that was the closest thing to matching the green skirt while not showing of the bra. I shrugged. It was going to take a while to replace everything I lost to Darla.

Shouldering my backpack, I took the steps down to join Kelly for breakfast.

"Good morning Carrie!" Kelly smiled. "Coffee this morning?"

"Yes!" I exclaimed. "Please!"

"You need more sleep Carrie. Seriously, you are going to get circles under your eyes if you don't get eight hours a night." Kelly warned, as she added sugar and creamer to my cup and handed it to me. She was at least wearing panties and a slightly transparent nightshirt this morning. A huge improvement from the open robe yesterday.

I sipped it slowly and then decided to have some breakfast. I fried a couple of eggs and asked Kelly if she wanted any. She didn't, so I just made the two.

"So, what do you do Kelly?" I asked.

"You mean when I'm not being a domestic goddess?" She giggled.

I laughed. "Yeah."

"Just retail stuff Carrie, nothing interesting." She said. "It makes me a little spending money, and it's low effort."

"I'm so glad Julie is coming back tonight. How are things with the two of you?"

"Good. Really good. I think..." I stopped myself, before I divulged too much. I had said a bit too much though, Kelly was looking at me, smiling expectantly. "I think we are going to be incredible some day."

Kelly laughed. "I don't doubt it. I think you are incredible now." She got up and walked towards me.

I turned back to my eggs and focused on them, flipping them with a spatula to provide an excuse for looking away from her, even though they were not quite ready to be flipped.

She stepped right up behind me. I could feel the warmth of her body before her breasts pressed barely against my back. A shiver ran through me and I shifted forward to avoid the contact. She only stepped closer again and I really had nowhere to go.

"Kelly, what are you doing?" I asked in a soft voice. I was terribly uncomfortable, and I wanted her to know it.

"Just watching you cook." Kelly replied, her lips so close to my ear, I could feel her breath.

I could feel her breasts against my back again. I whimpered as quietly as I could.

"You have the cutest butt." Kelly giggled, and she gave my ass a quick squeeze, one hand on each cheek.

I gasped out loud and turned to confront her. The squeeze was fast, and she had already turned and started walking back to the table, before I had gotten my body turned around. "Please don't do that Kelly." I said to her back.

Kelly stopped walking and turned back to face me with a grin on her lips. "What? Squeeze your butt?" Kelly asked incredulously, as if it was ridiculous to be offended.

"Yeah... I... that made me uncomfortable." I said, my face pink with embarrassment at having to say something that should be so obvious.

Kelly shrugged and looked at me like she was confused. "Did it? It's no big deal Carrie. My girlfriends and I do stuff like that all the time. Paying each other compliments. I ..." She stopped talking and sighed. "I'm sorry Carrie, it's a little difficult for me to figure out how to fit into your life. I mean, I'm not old enough to be a maternal figure, so I thought being closer to a friend would be more appropriate."

I bit my lip. She looked a bit hurt, but she needed to know my girlfriends and I did not go around grabbing each other's ass. She needed to understand touching me was inappropriate. I was at a bit of a loss that she didn't understand without me saying it.

She saw the expression on my face and before I could elaborate, she started to press her own position. "Carrie, I like you. I can tell you are a good kid, but you are definitely confused, while experimenting with sex. There is nothing wrong with that. You are eighteen, you are, by all definitions of the word, an adult. I'm not saying this to presume some kind of debt you owe me, but I have been advocating for your freedom from the time you moved in here."

"Your dad was ready to pull the plug on everything this week. The job, the dating, even transferring you to a closer school to get you away from whatever you are into. I went out on a limb to argue your case for you. I'm not trying to buy your friendship, but I hope you understand, I am your friend in this. It's only October. You have a whole year left of school and to get to know your Dad again. I want that for him. If he pulls you out of school in your senior year, I know you will rebel, and he will miss the opportunity before you go away to college next fall."

"He thinks he can control things better by breaking you away from everyone, with the exception of Julie, who he knows from when you were little. But, how often will you see each other, if he has you coming straight home from the local high school?" Kelly asked.

"I ..." I flipped the eggs once more and didn't face her, as I took in what she was saying. "Thank you, Kelly." I managed. "I just, have a lot on my mind today. I do appreciate him. I really do. I am used to being trusted, perhaps a little too used to it. Mom didn't really set down much in the way of rules, we just sort of had our routines. This is all a big change."

The eggs were done, I flipped them onto a plate and turned towards the table. Kelly was seated at the table and grnd at me.

"I know it is Carrie. So, please, let me help a little where I can. Open up to me a little, so I know what you are into, and whether I should be telling him to give you some space. It would be really bad for me if I end up being wrong to tell him he should relax, and he should really be worried." Kelly said. "I promise you I won't tell him anything, you can be honest with me. But, if you keep lying to me, I'm going to have to start agreeing with him. Maybe you need to be pulled out of your current environment."

That sounded like a threat to me. I sighed. "Kelly, listen, I do appreciate what you've done. I didn't realize Dad was still thinking on those lines." I sat down next to her and she placed a hand on my thigh. I flinched, and she giggled at the reaction. She gave my thigh a reassuring squeeze. She was turned to face me, her eyes focused on my face. In spite of my discomfort, I allowed her hand to stay where it was.

"Okay, let me ask you a question." If it got her off my back, maybe I could get her advice without being too specific. "If my body reacts, like gets excited, by things it shouldn't be excited by, should I listen to my body or my mind?"

Kelly giggled. "You mean, like me squeezing your butt?" She squeezed my thigh again, and I thought she moved it up a little. "Or squeezing your thigh right now?"

"Something like that." I said in a deep exhale of breath.

"You should let me know it is uncomfortable to you, like you did." She laughed softly and took her hand away from my thigh. "I'm not saying I will stop. I'm a very physical person. But, I do appreciate your honesty and don't want you to feel uncomfortable with me."

"Now, let me ask you something. Before you discovered your homosexual tendencies, if Julie had squeezed your ass or your breasts, or kissed you on the lips, would it have been an issue for your friendship?" Kelly followed, watching my reactions.

I thought a moment. "I suppose not. I mean, we did those things briefly, just playing around. I suppose now I realize that I like her, it makes it different. We will probably never be able to do that again without it meaning something different."

"So, does that mean you feel sexually attracted to me?" Kelly pressed, the smile widening on her face.

"No!" I exclaimed immediately. Then noticing her raised eyebrow and the smile didn't fade, I realized, perhaps I protested too much. "I mean, you are very attractive Kelly, but no. It's not like that."

"Good." Kelly answered. "Finish your breakfast and go to school. I need to shower and dress for work." She leaned in and kissed my lips! A soft, quick peck, but she did it and exited the kitchen before I could protest. My mouth hung open as I watched her walking to her room.

Shaking my head to clear the thoughts that ran through it, I quickly ate my eggs and drank my coffee and put everything in the dishwasher. I made for the door to escape this... oddness.

I called Julie through the blue tooth as soon as I pulled out of the drive. She didn't answer! In all the years we had cell phones, she always answered. Every single time. No matter what. No matter who she was with or where she was. She always answered me. I frowned.

I played some music and drove to her house. Traffic was light, so I was early. I called again when I was five minutes out. She didn't answer again! I left a message this time. "Jules? You okay, I'm almost there." Maybe she had her ringer off? She definitely had her phone last night. Dead battery?

I pulled in front of her house and got out of the car to knock on her door. Mrs. Petrili answered the door, she seemed surprised to see me. "Good morning Carrie. Julie left two hours ago, didn't she tell you?" She asked. Seeing the expression on my face, she frowned. "Apparently not. Sorry dear. I thought for sure she would have called you. She said she was riding to school with her friend Courtney."

I tried to hide the anger on my face. Judging by her sad frown, it didn't work well. "Call her, I'm sure she is waiting for you at school." She gave me a hug. "You two need to get it together." She laughed sadly. "More fighting between the two of you this month, than the last thirteen years."

I laughed, realizing that was very true. "Yeah, I guess that is a fact. Sorry, Mrs Petrili. I'm sure you have heard it from her." I broke the hug and smiled insincerely at her. "Have a great day, I'll try not to fight with her about not calling me, when she told me last night to pick her up this morning."

Mrs. Petrili laughed. "She's still spending the night at your house tonight to the best of my knowledge. Have fun at school, at least it's Friday."

I left. Yes, it was Friday. And instead of having Julie next to me when I faced the student body, who would be discussing my performance in front of them yesterday, and the fact the cheer squad fucked my ass and beat me in a leather suit a few weeks ago... I would be going through that alone. I drove through my myriad of emotions. Fear, sadness, anger, they were all there, dancing through my mind. I didn't call Julie again. She would have seen me calling her twice. She would call me, when she could fit me into her fucking schedule.

Yes, there was the anger. I needed Julie this morning.

I pulled into the parking lot at school and parked way in the back. I looked out at the students and bit my lip. Where were my friends? I waited in the car. I looked for Julie, for Courtney, for Sara or Gina or Cat or Jen. None of them could be seen. I sighed. I waited. I sat for five minutes and finally decided I needed to go inside. Alone. Utterly alone.

And then, as I opened the door, I saw Karen coming towards me from the school. It wasn't who I wanted, but it was something. She was walking fast, somewhere between a walk and a run. As she got closer, I could see she looked upset. There was an away game today, so she was wearing regular clothes. I was a bit worried, when she climbed into the car next to me and closed the door.

"You should cut school Carrie." She said with a tear on her red face. "Seriously, I know you are brave and tough and you will get through it. Please, I don't know if I can take it. Please, cut for me?"

"What is going on?" I asked, concerned by the look on her face.

"You don't want to know." She said and touched my cheek softly. "Please Carrie! Just drive."

I sighed. "I can't Karen. My dad would find out and pull me out of here. One more excuse for him to do it, and I don't think I could beg him off."

A tear slipped down her eye. "Maybe that would be best. A new start, where nobody knows you."

I was feeling the fear now. "Is it that bad? What's going on Karen?"

She sighed. "I will tell you if you leave. Drive away Carrie, please!?"

"Is Julie in there?" I asked, suddenly concerned.

Karen looked confused. "No. I thought she would be with you." She sighed, as I looked more worried than before. "I'm sure she's fine Carrie. Focus. YOU need to leave."

I sighed loudly. I reached up and touched her cheek, stroking the single tear away with my thumb. "Karen, do yourself a favor. Date someone else. I'm not that kind of girl." I smiled at her, it was a forced smile that was supposed to be reassuring. "You probably shouldn't go in with me. This is not the right time to be seen with me, I'm guessing."

"I don't care. I'll go in with you Carrie." Karen protested.

"No, please don't. If someone says something about you, it will make things a lot worse. I'm much more protective of others than myself. I would probably punch someone in the face, get suspended and end up transferred to another school. If you like me, wait here in the parking lot for a few minutes, give me time to get to home room. You can wait in my car if you want and give me my keys in second period. I know it seems the wrong thing to do, but trust me, it is better this way. I think that is why Julie didn't answer her phone this morning." I said, hoping that was the reason.

I handed Karen my keys and she whispered. "You are amazing Carrie." She squeezed my hand and looked into my eyes. "It's bad. The cheerleaders really did a job in there last night. Your friends and the janitor have been tearing down banners all morning. They probably got most of them down by now. Don't even ask what was on them, you probably have a good idea. Someone got pictures of you kissing Rebecca's feet."

I shrugged. Everyone knew that anyway, what difference did a picture make?

"And... there are panties everywhere. They focused on the banners, there was no time to do it all. Just... well... at least you know, I hope that is better?" Karen asked.

I exhaled loudly and closed my eyes. "I suppose I could use some more panties." I whispered with a mirthless laugh.

I sat silently and planned my approach to the pending carnage. Head on with a laugh. If they had the size right, I'd have enough panties to not have to wash them every few nights. Assuming they were new. Probably wouldn't be though. I could do this. I opened my eyes and smiled. I squeezed Karen's hand reassuringly. "It will be okay Karen. Stay clear of me today. If you get pulled in, it will throw off my attitude. Understand?"

She looked confused.

I sighed. "Listen, do you remember when Rebecca and Farin put me in that ridiculously small cheer outfit? I hated it. It was the most humiliating thing in the world and I wanted to run away and hide. Instead, I laughed about it and played it off. It pissed them off. It made me happy to see they couldn't get to me. I'm doing the same thing today. I'm going to laugh it all off. I'm going to act like none of it bothers me. It will piss them off and they will leave me alone."

"But, if they start in on you, or my friends, I won't be able to keep up the act. I can't control my anger when it comes to other people being attacked on my behalf. Do you understand?" I asked. Yeah, I had learned a bit about myself in the last month and a half.

Karen smiled weakly. "Okay. I understand. Text me if it gets too much and you want to ditch. I will go with you."

"Thanks Karen, I will." I smiled, closed my eyes and prepared to be an actress for a day.

Crossing the parking lot wasn't bad. I held my head up and smiled at those few comments that crossed the parking lot, when I was recognized. A few had waited for me when they saw my conspicuous red mustang pull in.

"There she is, the school slut!"

"She's proud of it!"

A boy I didn't know walked up to me smirking and held out a pair of panties. "My sister said you could have these, she wore them yesterday." He laughed.

I laughed. "You have your sister's dirty panties in your hand and you think I'm a freak?" I said loud enough for his friends to laugh at him. His smile disappeared, and he turned away, throwing them at my feet. "Litterbug." I laughed again and picked them up with a finger and thumb like they disgusted me, then dropped them in the trash can at the curb.

I was about to walk up the stairs to the school, when I heard a motorcycle rev its engine behind me. It was intentional, so I turned around to face the next stupid boy who wanted to confront me. I had the bright smile of confrontation painted on my face and then... it disappeared.

I suppose, there are a million things I was prepared for ... rude comments, panties being offered to me, offers of sex... but this was none of those things. I saw two girls on a motorcycle. The one on the back was pounding the back of the one in front. She was clearly not happy with her. She was wearing a cheerleading outfit, one of ours. And, I lost my smile.

The driver stopped in front of the school. Her helmet turned to face me and behind the glare of sunlight off the glass, I could make out the face of Bobby. She had a smirk on her face, best I could tell. She still had her helmet on, and the cheerleader behind her, was still pounding her on the back. There was probably some conversation or yelling, but I couldn't hear it over the hum of the motorcycle engine.

Finally, the girl on the back climbed off, took off the helmet and threw it on the ground. Of course, I knew it was Julie. Who else would be on Bobby's bike this morning? She looked at me with guilt all over her face. "Carrie, I'm sorry. She wasn't supposed to drive me up to school."

I glared at her as my heart crumbled in agony. Why today? I took a deep breath and fought to keep my face even.

Bobby flipped up the bottom of her helmet, so she could look directly at me with her smirking smile. She cut off the engine, so I could hear her. "Good morning Nips." She smiled.

I closed my eyes. I counted to ten. I took a deep breath and put the smile back on my face. "She's all yours Bobby." I turned and walked up the steps to school.

"Carrie stop!" Julie yelled, grabbing my arm. I yanked my arm away from her with such anger, it made her wince.